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QueensCenter · CIVIC REVIEW VISUALIZATION

Originally built in the early seventies, QueensCenter is one of the top-grossing regional malls in the country. It is located right in the middle of Queens, which is "home to a vast multi-cultural, socio-economic and ethnically diverse population. Over 2.2 million people reside in 778,034 households within a 5 mile radius."1

While planning a major expansion in 2002, the design team at CommArts encountered an unanticipated degree of concern and contention from both the community and the local planning review board. As so frequently happens with projects of this scale, the concerns centered around how the proposed expansion would affect the quality of the surrounding urban fabric. Would it block sunlight of the nearby residential buildings? Would the larger building be inappropriately sized in relation to its surroundings?

The set of design drawings that had been first presented to the public were complete, but they had been meant for a different audience; the owners and management team of the mall. The drawings didn't communicate well to the general public, and didn't address their specific concerns.

To help remedy the situation, I was asked to create a series of images showing the project in context. The first step was to take photographs of the areas and views in question. I then created a rough massing model of the building and matched the perspective angle to the photos. Once the photos and model renderings are masked appropriately, they were layered to provide an accurate and believable representation of what the final project would look like. Upon presentation of these images, the project was immediately approved.

Despite that fact that the work I do usually represents the developer's side of things, I believe that people are right to be concerned and vocal about the development that goes on in their communities. There have been too many inappropriately sized or poorly designed projects built that place commercial gain over the quality of life of the local residents. The burden is on development teams not only to create quality projects, but to make their case to the public.

1. http://www.shopqueenscenter.com